Elephants in circuses are rebelling in attempts to escape their sad existences.
Since 1990, elephants have killed at least 46 people and injured many more. In 1994, an
elephant killed her trainer and injured 12 spectators before being gunned down by almost
100 bullets while running terrified through downtown Honolulu. In 1994, officer Blayne
Doyle, who had to shoot 47 rounds into Janet, an elephant who charged out of the Great
American Circus arena, lamented: "I think these elephants are trying to tell us that
zoos and circuses are not what God created them for. But we have not been listening."

Statistic on elephant attacks since the year 2000

February 9, 2001/Chester, England A zookeeper at the Chester Zoo was in critical
condition with injuries to his head and shoulders after he was butted and knocked down by
a 30-year-old Asian elephant.

November 21, 2000/Bangkok, Thailand Three politicians were thrown eight feet when
an elephant they were riding panicked upon seeing traffic and bolted through the streets.
One man suffered a broken arm, another sustained head, arm, and leg injuries, and the
third man was badly bruised.

November 16, 2000/Lyon, France Five elephants with a circus, panicked by a car
horn, stampeded and wrecked six cars.

June 22, 2000/Washington, Pa. An elephant named Tonya traveling with Circus Hope
became frightened when children approached her with toy horns. Tonya escaped the control
of her handlers and was later led back to her tent by police officers, security personnel,
and trainers. All the animals in the circus were "on edge" because of highway
noise and the surface of the parking lot.

May 5, 2000/Maun, Botswana An elephant being used in a safari operation was
spooked and attacked a guide, killing him.

May 1, 2000/São Paulo, Brazil A 9-year-old girl suffered a broken jaw and lost 10
teeth after an elephant being kept in the Sorocaba Zoo threw a large stone at her. The
child had to undergo surgery, with another surgery scheduled later.

April 24, 2000/Bangkok, Thailand An elephant used in a tourist park went berserk
during a show and attacked three visitors, killing one and seriously injuring the other
two.

April 20, 2000/Yucca Valley, Calif. Two elephants being used by the Culpepper
& Merriweather Circus escaped from their pens. One stomped down three city blocks,
frightening bystanders. Authorities said that a circus employee trying to get the second
elephant under control was "trampled."

February 14, 2000/Bangkok, Thailand A bull elephant tossed his handler off his
back and went berserk in the heart of Bangkok, stampeding through a major shopping
district before being tranquilized. The elephant was hungry and exhausted from walking
along the busy streets begging for money for his handler, a common practice in Thailand.

February 7, 2000/Thailand A bull elephant, used as a working animal, killed one
man and crushed the arm of another. The man's arm was so badly injured that it had to be
amputated.

February 7, 2000/London, England A keeper at a British zoo was crushed to death by
one of the elephants in his care. The handler was found with multiple injuries in the
elephants stall.

January 26, 2000/Riverview, Fla. A female elephant named Kenya attacked and killed
her trainer at the Ramos Family Circus winter compound. Kenya knocked the trainer to the
ground, stepped on her, and knocked her down a second time when the woman tried to stand
up. Kenya was used in the Ramos traveling shows and to give rides.

January 8, 2000/Thodupuzha, India A show designed to get placed in the Guinness
Book of World Records ended in tragedy when seven baby elephants panicked and ran amok,
killing one bystander and injuring several others. Several carsincluding that of the
ambassadorwere smashed. The secretary of Indias Elephant Protection Council
said that elephants run amok or die mainly because of torture. The council said that 250
mahouts and 234 elephants have been killed in the state since 1980.